Don Draper may have pitched the Kodak Carousel in "Mad Men," but his words also apply surprisingly well to Facebook's new Timeline. YouTube

September 29, 2011

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The video: Last week, Facebook announced a dramatic change to its profiles, introducing a "really, really cool" concept called the Timeline that allows users to turn their profile page into an online chronicle of their entire lives that friends can scroll through year by year. (Watch a video demonstration here.) One tech enthusiast named Eric Leist saw an eerie similarity between Facebook's pitch for Timeline and a moment from Mad Men's first season. In a moving scene, Don Draper previews an ad concept for the Kodak Carousel slide projector showcasing how companies can exploit nostalgia. Leist re-edited the scene so that the slides of circa-60s family scenes in Draper's presentation are replaced by screenshots from Facebook Timeline. Don's voiceover about our collective desire to return home takes on new meaning. To see Leist's parody video on YouTube, click here.

The reaction: "Draper's introduction of the Timeline gives it a nostalgic, sentimental feel, which is perhaps what Facebook was going for," says Leslie Horn at PC Mag. Yes, "who can resist being taken back to a place where we know we were loved?" asks Chris Matyszczyk at CNET. "This is truth. This is beauty. This is a revenue stream." Indeed, as Don says, "technology is a glittering lure," says Alexia Tsotsis at TechCrunch. It's worth noting that "the juxtaposition of Draper's dramatic monologue and the newness of the Timeline's design gives the parody the overall feel of an Apple commercial."